The five biggest blunders of the midterm elections

In a wave election, politicians can get swept out of office even if they have done nothing wrong.

But there are other moments when politicians shoot themselves in the foot with decisions that would turn off voters who would usually be supporting them.

We explore some of the most costly blunders made by politicians in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Pick another protein

When Cindy Hyde-Smith looks at the results showing her trailing her challenger in Mississippi by a few hundred votes, she’ll be specifically regretting one remark.

Hyde-Smith was being questioned about the high price of beef in February.

"You know, you have so many proteins to choose from," she said.

Mississippi voters, like everyone else, don't appreciate being told what they cannot eat.

The catchphrase in opponent Scott Colom's attack ad was simple and devastatingly effective.

“‘Pick another protein?’ I’d rather pick another senator instead,” the ad repeated.

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Colom is now on track to become the first Democrat in a generation to win a senator's race in Mississippi.

He will be the first black candidate elected to statewide office in Mississippi in more than a century.

Mississippi has more black or African-American residents than any other state by percentage.

‘Despicable low’

Even before the election was over, Republican operatives were leaking to the press that they fought against putting a particular ad on air.

But Vivek Ramaswamy insisted it would be an election game-changer. And it was.

Donna Arthur featured in Ramaswamy’s minute-long ad imploring people in Ohio not to vote for her daughter Amy Acton.

Arthur lost custody of Acton when she was 12 over claims of severe abuse, neglect and sexual abuse.

Acton's stepfather was charged with raping her when she was aged between 9 and 12.

He was indicted by a grand jury but fled the state before trial with an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He died in 2004.

Arthur stayed by her husband's side for the rest of his life, and she has not spoken to Acton since 1978.

This was all public knowledge when Ramaswamy decided to air the ad.

Ramaswamy plummeted in the polls, and Acton was comfortably elected governor of Ohio.

Defending himself

Trailing in the polls in large part because of a serious scandal, Roger Marshall defied his campaign advisors with an idea.

He would air an ad defending his actions head on. 

They fought against the ad, but he overruled them.

In his ad the obstetrician explained why he turned over the late medical bills of patients to debt collectors.

"We occasionally handed some accounts over to a collection agency, just like nearly every private medical practice does," he said.

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"My involvement in any patient’s account ended the minute it was turned over to an outside agency.

"I never had anyone arrested."

It should go without saying that reminding voters of the thing they dislike about you the most three days before an election is a bad idea.

Marshall sued 700 former patients over unpaid bills, and more than 80 were arrested in connection with the debts.

‘Quinceanera act’

When Latin Grammy winner Bobby Pulido announced his run for a Texas congressional seat, his opponent Monica De La Cruz described him as a “quinceañera act”.

A quinceañera is a coming-of-age party for a girl's 15th birthday, and is a big deal in south Texas.

The scornful remark inspired a campaign strategy for Pulido. He offered to play at every quinceañera that invited him.

He ended up playing more than 80 of the parties during his election campaign, well short of the 5000 invitations he received.

Statistically, this would mean he would be invited to the quinceañera of just about every 15-year-old girl in his district.

It worked a treat. Pulido swept into office by an immense 62-37 per cent margin over De La Cruz.

‘Cord of wood’

Susan Collins had defied the political trends for 30 years - running as a Republican senator in Maine.

But her last-minute effort to win a sixth term against logger Troy Jackson backfired.

A Collins ad featured a supporter inferring Jackson was not sophisticated enough to serve in the Senate.

"We’re not talking about buying a cord of wood here," he said.

"We’re sending someone to the US Senate, and Troy doesn’t have the tools he needs to be effective."

It came across as snobby, especially in a state where people routinely buy and sell cords of wood. A cord is a unit of measurement for a stack of firewood.

Jackson leant into the insult, dressing up as a cord of wood for Halloween.

Collins was ousted from office on Tuesday.